Women are vital to economic growth and we need to make the most of them

Many seek to politicise the question of women in the workplace however as I
have been saying for some time, this is not a question of political
correctness, it is simply good business sense.

Maria Miller says women should be encourage to fulfil their potential at workPhoto: Alamy

By Maria Miller, Minister for Women and Equalities; Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport

9:00PM BST 19 Apr 2013

There are now more women working in this country than ever before, this historic high means that two-thirds of all women are now employed. In fact during the last quarter of 2012, the rise in employment overall was largely driven by the number of women coming back to the workplace.

There can be no question that women are absolutely vital to our economic growth and we need to do all we can to ensure we are making the best of all they have to offer. It makes absolutely no sense to have a significant proportionate of the population underutilised and hampered by barriers to achievement.

A growing number of organisations now see the sense of this and The Fawcett Society have today added to the debate with their ‘Women’s Employment Strategy’. The Government is heavily focussed on this issue and we are making real progress. There are 1.27 million women self-employed, an increase of 51,000 compared to a year ago and these new entrepreneurs are able to access support from 15,000 business mentors including 5,000 specifically targeted for women.

Alongside this, the gender pay gap is closing, between 2011 and 2012 it dropped to 19.7%. To reduce the gap further we have implemented measures to make pay secrecy clauses unlawful. We are also enabling Tribunals to order employers to conduct a pay audit, where an employer has been found to discriminate. We are making progress, but I don’t think anyone believes that it’s something that can be something that can be meaningfully fixed overnight, it requires a culture shift

Many often see the discussion around women in the workplace as symptomatic with the discussion of women on boards. I would argue that latter is an element of the former but it is not its main driver by any means. Of course it is vital to make sure that we improve the female representation that we see on boards.

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However perhaps more crucially, we need to ensure that the pipeline for those senior positions, right from the very start of the journey, is strong and effective – promoting the best and giving real opportunity. Earlier this month, both Lord Davies’ and Cranfield’s reports indicated that we are heading in the right direction, something we are achieving without the quotas that Europe would like to impose on us.

Let’s be honest, the workplace was designed by men, for men and as we have seen – times have changed and if we want women to achieve their full potential – we need to make sure the workplace is modernised to enable that. This is not just crucial for our generation but for future generations of women. That’s why the government is extending shared parental leave and the right to request flexible working.

However, we know there is still a long way to go and many women still experience barriers, including lack of female role models, the cost of childcare, lack of workplace flexibility, and a lack of transparency around recruitment for senior positions. That is why we have a big programme of work underway on this, that is and will continue to make a real difference.

I cannot emphasise enough, how important I believe it to be that women are able and encouraged to reach the highest heights and I cannot emphasise enough how dedicated the Government is to ensuring this happens.